Amateur Pursuits

This is Part I of what I have learned in my amateur pursuit of flower design for the traditional altar.

When I first began attending the Latin Mass two years ago, the altar guild from the parish provided all of the flowers for the church.  Pricey professional arrangements  were purchased for the greater feasts and when fresh flowers were absent, fake arrangements were pulled off the sacristy shelf and placed on the pedestals next to the tabernacle. 

When possible, Father would make use of the fresh flower arrangements for the Latin Mass.  However, they were often too large in scale or designed to be resting on the floor, not for the traditional altar. 

As no one else was interested in making flowers for the Latin Mass, Father was appreciative of my enthusiasm. 

My first designs consisted of summer flowers collected from my garden, placed in small milk glass vases that I purchased at a thrift store.  They were simple and seasonal. 

These designs were pretty, but often they didn't carry to the back of the church or the delicate flowers wilted before the end of Mass leaving petals (or worse, pollen!) on the altar cloth.

I concluded after a few months that I needed to learn how to structure an arrangement for a larger space and with flowers that would last.

If you are getting started, here are some helpful links: 

1.  Fleurs de Marie-Jacqueline has a beautiful website for "Catholic Church flower lore".

2. Adorning God's Altar by Shawn Tribe is an excellent article treating design for the traditional altar.

3. Katharine M. McClinton's book, Flower Arrangment in the Church is well-worth its eight dollars! 

4. Michael Gaffney from the American School of Flower Design is quite entertaining and he makes many helpful videos available on YouTube.

5.  These church ladies from St. Marks Columbus have taught me a lot about how to make a structured flower arrangment in a series of videos.  A must watch- this is serious business!